Maybe I'm a little late on this one. But then again I've figured out most of you would want to have a nice, safe place to watch the new Nike viral, Rise Of The Hybrids."From the chaotic aftermath of a galactic impact an orders emerges unlike any other. An explosion of new forms never seen before. Suddenly, all combinations are possible; animals fuse with other animals. Plants fuse with minerals. Beings and objects fuse with earlier ancestors of themselves. This is the rise of the hybrids", reads the very Ed Wood-ian introductory text to NikeLab's Rise page.

Rise of the Hybrids is actually the merging of four of Nike's Air Max technologies (Air Max 90, 95, 97, and women's Footscape) to form the new Air Max 360. And I think I know the reason for this sudden "emerging" in hybridness (can I say that? Well I just did).

Now, I don't know about you all, but I'm well behind in Nikeology. I'm beginning to feel that all Nike's Air or Max or Moto or Skate or Blah shoe lines only resonate within the company, and not exactly within the consumers. Given, they have cool commercials. They have cool shoes. But when the common street athlete hits the store looking for a new pair of digs, Nike fails to be recognized as the perfect "sports" shoe: there are just too many types to choose from, they are just too flashy, and some other brand name shoe is probably better for such and such reason. You don't know what to buy, and moreover, a store clerk will probably counsel you to buy Saucony or Adidas for your "specific" needs. Ouch, Nike, ouch. You lost your specificity. A basic marketing law: When you broaden a category too much, you lose your ability to be the "specialist" in that category. Thank you Al Ries.Now I hope that this "hybrid" merge idea is something that's bound to bring a solution to that. I Nike's Rise is actually the rise of less variety, more specificity. If that's the case, I say it's the rise of a good idea.